Chocolate and Roses
by joop-pa-pa96
Summary: Rosie is the mother of Charlie. How will the effect the story? What's more, who is the father? And what is Rosie's relationship with the famous chocolatier, Willy Wonka? Follow Rosie and her son Charlie on their adventure in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory WillyxOc A special thanks to Silver Moon 1993 for letting me use their idea.
1. Chapter One Rosie Bucket

_In my mind I traveled through the snow that always seemed to come down in sheets upon our town. Up. Up. Up. I went. Over the gates to a place long lost in time._

_The Chocolate Factory._

_A place the used to hold such hope, joy…but now was only a magnanimous reminder of what was lost. I could almost taste the sweet chocolate that was made there. Smell the rich sweetness of it._

_In my mind I struggled to stop it. I didn't want to go back. There was no place for me there anymore. I made my choice._

_However just as I got close enough to touch the front door…_

I woke up.

"Mum…mum…it's time for school. I wanted to say goodbye before I left," Charlie said waking me up.

Groaning I pushed dark chocolate brown curls from my face. After I rubbed the sleep from my eyes I smiled and sat up. "Good bye, sweetie." Giving him a hug and a kiss. "Have a good day at school."

Charlie gave me a kiss on the cheek, "Bye, Mum." With that he climbed down the ladder. Faintly I could hear him say. "Bye Grandma. Bye Grandpa George. Bye Grandma Georgina. Bye Grandpa Jo. Bye Grandma Josephine." Then I heard the door close behind him.

Groaning I got out of the bed I shared with Charlie since he was a baby and got dressed. I shivered. The room was always so cold that when Charlie was a baby I was afraid he'd freeze to death, so since then he'd always slept with me.

I too climbed downstairs and ate the meager breakfast quickly.

"Morning Mum."

"Morning Rosie-Cheeks," Mum said. "Gave a good day at work."

I nodded, "I will. Bye Grandpa George. Bye Grandma Georgina. Bye Grandpa Jo. Bye Grandma Josephine!" With that I ran off to my job. However before I could get very far Mum came after me. Waving a red book in her hand.

"Rosie, dear, Charlie left his school book here," Mum said handing me a red book school book.

"Thanks Mum," I smiled and ran. I knew that if I ran fast enough I'd catch up. Today was Friday so that meant that a shipment of chocolate would be going out and Charlie would be standing there on the sidewalk in front of the candy shop watching them drive by.

And true to my mind schedule I found him there, watching the red trucks drive by.

"Charlie W. Bucket," I said using his full name in a stern voice. He turned quickly and I handed him his book. Smiling I said in a much nicer voice, "You left your book at home. You're lucky Grandma found it before I left."

"Sorry, Mum," he said tucking it into his bag.

"That's ok, sweetie, I'll see you after work. Kay?" I gave him a small hug.

He nodded and ran off.

With that I turned around and walked into the candy shop, my own personal minimum wage nightmare. The customers were nice enough, mostly mother's and father's with children who seemed to already be on a sugar high at the thought of eating a Wonka Bar. My boss, Bob, was nice. Very understanding, kind, and when Charlie was young he allowed me to bring him to work every once in a while. But my coworkers were a nightmare

I'd get dirty glances from the older women because of my single status.

The younger women thought I was boring because I had a child and didn't sleep around.

And the men thought I was easy.

"Hey, Rosie," said Bob, throwing me an apron.

"Bob." I nodded at by boss and slipped on my apron easily then smoothing out the wrinkles. Then started to stock the shelves with candy from the local chocolate factory. As I did so I felt that something…something important or special or amazing was about to happen to Charlie and I. I just couldn't put my finger on what it was though.


	2. Chapter Two Story Time With Grandpa Jo

Dad and I, all bundled up, ran inside quickly before the cold could spread to the rest of the house. The house seemed a bit warmer with the lights from Mum's cooking and the lamps.

"Evening Buckets!" Dad called out.

A slow, but collective, "Evening" was heard back.

Dad went over to greet Mum while I sat down to help Charlie with his homework. However in our small house I could hear them.

"Soup's almost ready, darling," said Mum. "Don't suppose you have anything to add in?" Dad shook his head sadly. "Oh well, nothing goes better with cabbage than cabbage." I loved Mum, she never complained and always tried to make everything seem better.

Dad came over to the table with us, digging in his pockets, "Charlie, I have something I think you'll like." He pulled out some misshapen toothpaste tube tops.

Charlie's eyes lit up as he sorted through the small pile and found the one, "It's exactly what I need." He got up, abandoning his homework to pull out his sculpture.

"What is it, Charlie?" Grandpa Jo asked.

"Grandpa found it, just the piece I needed," Charlie said pulling out the impressive sculpture of the factory.

He walked over to Grandpa Jo, "What piece was it?"

"A head for Willy Wonka," Charlie said.

"Wonderful," Grandma Josephine said.

"It's quite a likeness, Charlie," I said pulling my chair out from the table a bit to face the two of them.

Charlie turned to me, "You think so, Mum?"

Grandpa Jo nodded, "She should know. We saw Willy Wonka with our own eyes."

Something in me turned a bit sore at the mention.

"I used to work for him you know."

"You did?"

"I did."

"He did," said Grandma Josephine.

"He did," said Grandpa George.

"I love grapes," said Grandma Georgina.

Grandpa Jo looked wistful, "Of course I was a much younger man in those days."

I smiled and Charlie and I sat at attention to listen.

"Willy Wonka began with a single store on Cherry Street. The whole world wanted his candy. The man was a genius. Did you know he invented a new way of making chocolate ice cream so that it stays cold for hours without a freezer? You could even lay it lying in the sun on a hot day and it won't go runny?"

I could remember a giddy voice call to me.

_"Rosie! Rosie! Look at this!"_

"But that's impossible…"

"But Willy Wonka did it," I said with a smile.

Charlie smiled at me. Elated at the thought that his mother actually met his hero.

Grandpa Jo continued. "Before long, he decided to build a proper chocolate factory. The largest chocolate factory in history. Fifty times as big as any other…"

_The crowd was applauding as Willy cut the red ribbon. He put his arm around my waist and waved to everyone in the crowd. There I could see Grandpa Jo and Grandma Josephine sharing a kiss. And although when I was younger that would have been gross, now it just seemed sweet._

"Grandpa, don't make it gross," Charlie said.

I smiled.

Grandma Josephine piped in, "Tell him about the Indian prince, he'd like to hear about that."

"You mean Prince Pondicherry! Well, Prince Pondicherry wrote a letter to Mister Wonka and asked him to come all the way out to India and build him a colossal palace entirely out of chocolate."

Aunt Georgina laughed.

I giggled at the memory of that one.

_"An entire palace made of chocolate are you crazy, Willy?"_

_"Why not?"_

_"It's impossible," I giggled._

_"Why I think if at least eight impossible things before breakfast," he stuck his tongue out at me._

_I stuck my tongue back at him._

_After our fit of giggles was over I said. "I'm gonna miss you."_

_"Why? You're coming with me of course."_

"True to his word, the bricks were chocolate. And the cement holding them together was chocolate. All the walls and ceiling were made out of chocolate as well. So were the carpet and the pictures and the furniture."

"Willy Wonka warned him to eat it quickly before it melted." I said, "But Prince Pondicherry wouldn't hear of it."

Grandpa Jo continued, "But Mister Wonka was right of course. Soon after this there came a very hot day with a boiling sun. The prince sent an urgent telegram requesting a new palace. But Willy Wonka was facing problems of his own. All the other chocolate makers, you see, had grown jealous of Mister Wonka. They had begun sending in spies to steal secret recipes. Soon Fickelgruber started making ice cream that would never melt. Prodnose came out with a chewing gum that never lost its flavor. Then Slugworth began making candy balloons that you could blow up to incredible sizes."

I remember the last one being the last straw. That last night before he closed the factory was the worst night of my life.

_"I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS!" Willy shouted at the paper._

_I winced at the noise. "Who stole your brain this time?" I asked hugging him from behind, my arms resting around his neck gently._

_"Slugworth," he frowned._

_"They're just jealous," I sighed in his ear, "you know that."_

_He nodded, "But I can't let this continue. I've made a decision. I'm closing the factory forever."_

_I froze. Forever was an awfully long time. He loved making chocolate. He loved making children happy. Was he really going to give it all up? "Are you sure?"_

_"Yes. I'm closing the door tomorrow forever. With you and me inside. They're never opening again."_

_"For business you mean," I added. "I can still leave and see my Mum and Dad right?"_

_No answer._

_"Right?"_

_"I'm not taking any chances."_

_I broke away from him, "Willy!"_

_"What?"_

_"You're seriously asking me to leave my family forever?"_

_"Why not?"_

_I groaned._

_He was seriously confused, "What?"_

_"I'm not going to abandon my family."_

_"I'm not letting them in."_

_"Fine!"_

_"Fine." He said it so calmly as if he didn't understand what he was asking was a deal breaker and not just a simple lover's spat._

_Angrily I twisted the diamond off my finger and dropped it on the bedside table. "I'm leaving, forever."_

_He seemed frozen as I left._

_"Goodbye Willy Wonka."_

My heart ached.

"The thievery got so bad that one day without warning Mister Wonka told every single one of his workers to go home. He announced to them that he was closing his chocolate factory forever."

While the story was being told we were eating.

Charlie piped up, "But the factory didn't close forever. It's open right now."

Mum explained, "Well sometimes when grownups say forever they really mean a really long time."

"And sometimes they don't," I said quietly.

Mum gave me a sympathetic look I had gotten used to over time.

Grandpa George broke the tension, "Like when I say I feel like I've eaten nothing, but cabbage soup…forever."

"Now, pops," said Dad.

"The factory did close, Charlie," Grandpa Josephine said getting us back on track.

"And it seemed like it would be closed forever," Grandpa Jo said. "And then one day we saw smoke rising from the chimneys. The factory was back in business."

Charlie asked, "Did you get your job back?"

Grandpa Jo's smile froze on his face, "No. No one did."

There was a small pause of silence.

"But there must be people working there," said Charlie.

"Think about it Charlie, have you ever seen a single person going into that factory? Or coming out?" Grandma Josephine asked.

Charlie thought, "No…the gates are always closed."

"Exactly," Grandpa Jo affirmed.

I started to collect the empty bowls.

"But who's running the machines?"

"Nobody knows Charlie," Mum said.

"Certainly is a mystery," Dad said.

"Doesn't somebody ask Mister Wonka?"

I froze and said quietly, "He doesn't come out. Nobody has seen him in years."

Grandpa Jo added, "The only thing that comes out, is the candy. Already packed and addressed."

Smiling sadly I took another couple of bowls to the kitchen. _'I'd give anything to see what's become of that factory. And what's become of its owner as well.'_


End file.
